Employment History

Senior Winemaker

Winemaker

Stratus Vineyards

Winemaker Jean-Laurent (J.L.) Groux will tell you that the success of any given bottle of wine made at Stratus Vineyards "is not our decision.

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"J.L. is one of the most research-oriented experimental winemakers I've come across, which is exactly what this project needs to succeed," Hobbs said.

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Obama isn't the first high-profile palate to try the 2002 Stratus Red, an assemblage of seven differnet grape varieties made by winemaker J.L. Groux.

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It also included a reception and six course wine tasting with Stratus winemaker, J.L. Groux.

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We sat down with J.L. to discuss assemblage, gravity and great wine.

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Trius, because the winemaker was J.L. Groux, 48, who created the line of wines bearing that name at nearby Hillebrand during his year stint with them.
Luring Groux into the new winery was the first really big move.

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With his frizzy, out of control hair and wild gaze, Groux reminds one of a mad winemaker genius, with visual echoes of Einstein.

I won't bore you with tank talk, but while the outside of the building is reminiscent of a big glass shoebox, the inside has every conceivable piece of ultra-modern equipment, from moveable double sorting tables to massive elevated oak Grenier wood fermenters.

Groux is as excited as a kid with a big allowance in a candy store.
As winemaker at Stratus, he has total control of the grapes and vineyards.His mission in life is to coax world-class flavours froma myriad of grapes, including clasic Bordeaux varieties (cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot), Burgundy varieties (chardonnay) and Rhone grapes (syrah, viognier) - not to mention gewurztraminer, sauvignon blanc, semillon and malbec.

The art of blending grapes, which Groux mastered at Hillebrand, is in full play in the Stratus wines.

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Groux and Gamble liken Wildass to Lee and Stratus to Susur, in reference to Toronto's top chef Susur Lee, who has opened a price friendly Lee restaurant next door to his culinary opus, Susur.

"It's fascinating to hear what he says," declared J.L. Groux, winemaker at Stratus Vineyards.
"This won't work for our young vineyards (with their high vigor), but it's fascinating to consider what they could be like in 50 years."
Humbrecht's wines were as iconoclastic as he; a tasting of four village-designated rieslings from the 2005 vintage revealed wines of high alcohol (over 13%) along with considerable residual sugar in some cases.

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"I've never seen such an enthusiastic and diverse group at one of these meetings," remarked Groux.

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Groux, a native of the Loire Valley of France, and formerly of Hillebrand Estate Vineyard, has been named Ontario's "Winemaker of the Year."

Trius, because the winemaker was J.L. Groux, 48, who created the line of wines bearing that name at nearby Hillebrand during his year stint with them.
Luring Groux into the new winery was the first really big move.

...

With his frizzy, out of control hair and wild gaze, Groux reminds one of a mad winemaker genius, with visual echoes of Einstein.

I won't bore you with tank talk, but while the outside of the building is reminiscent of a big glass shoebox, the inside has every conceivable piece of ultra-modern equipment, from moveable double sorting tables to massive elevated oak Grenier wood fermenters.

Groux is as excited as a kid with a big allowance in a candy store.
As winemaker at Stratus, he has total control of the grapes and vineyards.His mission in life is to coax world-class flavours froma myriad of grapes, including clasic Bordeaux varieties (cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot), Burgundy varieties (chardonnay) and Rhone grapes (syrah, viognier) - not to mention gewurztraminer, sauvignon blanc, semillon and malbec.

The art of blending grapes, which Groux mastered at Hillebrand, is in full play in the Stratus wines.

...

Groux and Gamble liken Wildass to Lee and Stratus to Susur, in reference to Toronto's top chef Susur Lee, who has opened a price friendly Lee restaurant next door to his culinary opus, Susur.

Trius is the creation of J. L. Groux, winemaker at Hillebrand Estates near Niagara-on-the-Lake.Born in France's Loire Valley and educated at the University of Bordeaux, he has spent his lifetime with the three French red grape varieties - cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc - that comprise Trius.

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Very much in the Bordeaux tradition, Groux decides the proportions in the old fashioned way, simply by tasting various combinations until he hits the blend he likes.In the hot 1998 vintage that ripened cabernet sauvignon well, he ended up using 63 per cent cabernet, the largest proportion ever used in Trius.

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Next year there may be a Trius Reserve 1999 that will be more expensive, but Groux is not worried this will diminish the quality and value of Trius.The winery will have more grapes coming into production and expects to be able to maintain its level of selection.

Other than value for money, the significance of Trius for Ontario is that Mr. Groux went to the blended Bordeaux model early in the game (first vintage was 1989) and has stuck to his guns.He has also developed a database that tracks the harvest particulars from every vineyard plot and vintage, making Trius the most studied red in the province as well.